North Carolina Protecting the Monopoly?

Tesla Want to Sell Directly to Consumers

The company recently won a victory in New York. Residents in New York and a few other states can buy vehicles at Tesla-owned stores.

The established car dealers, of course, like things the way they are and want keep what is essentially a kind of monopoly.

Battleground North Carolina

The latest battleground is North Carolina. Tesla wants to sell cars over the Internet directly to buyers in the state. Last month, the Republican-controlled state Senate proposed a bill that would block Tesla from selling online.

Nearly all states require manufacturers to sell their vehicles through dealerships and direct sales violate those franchise laws.

Strange, isn’t it?

How these laws have protected car dealers from much of the online sales that have swept through other sectors, like electronics, books and music.

The bill in North Carolina updated the law governing the relationship between automakers and dealers. The bill also makes it unlawful for residents to make online purchases directly through manufacturers. A monopoly for dealers, if you like to see it that way.

The simple fact is that people buy cars out of state every day. There is nothing illegal about that. So why not online?

Buying online is usually efficient and very beneficial for the consumer. Fair competition is in fact one of the corner stones in a free market.